Plus, Joel Rayburn nomination nixed
Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, during a mayoral debate in New York, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.
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In today’s Daily Kickoff, we talk to experts about Israel’s efforts to root out Hamas by sectioning off parts of Gaza, and cover the White House’s withdrawal of Joel Rayburn as the nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. We report on comments from Qatari spokesman Majed al-Ansari praising Palestinian terror prior to the Oct. 7 attacks, and preview the World Zionist Congress, which begins today in Jerusalem. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Rep. Jake Auchincloss, Dina Powell McCormick and Sarah Istel.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by Jewish Insider Executive Editor Melissa Weiss and Israel Editor Tamara Zieve. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution is holding a hearing this afternoon on politically motivated violent incidents.
- Elsewhere in Washington, the Israeli Embassy is holding a memorial service and discussion on how the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks affected the region.
- The Jewish Federations of North America is holding a panel discussion on the upcoming sale of TikTok and online antisemitism.
- The Future Investment Initiative kicked off its ninth annual conference in Riyadh yesterday. Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Snap’s Evan Spiegel, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon, Alphabet’s Ruth Porat, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman and the Carlyle Group’s David Rubenstein are slated to speak over the course of the four-day confab. Earlier today, former Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell McCormick discussed the lasting impact of the Abraham Accords in the region — read more here.
- The World Zionist Congress kicks off this evening in Jerusalem. Are you attending? Keep an eye out for Jewish Insider’s Melissa Weiss and eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.
- The Vatican is marking the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the document absolving Jews of responsibility for the death of Jesus that served as a turning point in Jewish-Catholic relations, with a series of ceremonies and events this week.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL
Even as Zohran Mamdani remains the front-runner heading into New York City’s mayoral election next Tuesday, some emerging signs indicate that his momentum is flagging in the final stretch of the race — underscoring potential vulnerabilities for the 34-year-old democratic socialist.
Early voting returns over the weekend, for example, showed a notable surge among older New Yorkers turning out in City Council districts on the Upper East and West Sides, in what some experts interpreted as more favorable results for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — running as an independent after losing the primary to Mamdani.
Meanwhile, a new Suffolk University poll released on Monday showed a tightening race, with Cuomo cutting Mamdani’s lead in half to just 10 points — 44% to 34% — in the closing week before the election.
The polling followed a debate performance last week in which Mamdani frequently found himself on the defensive — and faced criticism from Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, over his continued refusal to confirm his position on a series of ballot proposals.
“Cuomo’s numbers are going up because people are now paying more attention,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic consultant leading an anti-Mamdani super PAC.
Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens who would be New York City’s first Muslim mayor if elected, had spent the last few days accusing his rivals of pushing Islamophobic attacks, delivering a series of emotional addresses in which he expressed pride in his faith and vowed to “no longer look for myself in the shadows.”
PRIMARY COLORS
Mamdani ally Brad Lander explores race against Dan Goldman
Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller, is actively weighing a challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) in next year’s primary election, according to people familiar with the matter, raising the prospect of a competitive race between an ally of far-left Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani and a pro-Israel incumbent. Lander had, until recently, been widely expected to land a top job in a potential Mamdani administration, with whom he cross-endorsed during the June primary, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
Primary predictions: But following reports of an emerging strain in their alliance, Lander, a 56-year-old Jewish Democrat, is more closely eyeing Goldman’s seat, which covers Lower Manhattan and a section of Brooklyn that includes the progressive enclave of Park Slope. Lander’s thinking was reported on Monday by City & State New York, which said that he had told allies he was planning a primary challenge to Goldman. Political strategists predicted that Lander, a longtime resident of Park Slope who represented parts of the district as a city councilman, would be a formidable candidate, particularly if Mamdani wins the mayoral race. “The polling and voter data would indicate a progressive running in this district would have a strong chance,” Chris Coffey, a Democratic consultant who resides in the district, told JI on Monday.
scoop
Top Qatari spokesman Majed al-Ansari previously applauded Palestinian terrorism
Majed Al-Ansari, a Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman and advisor to the prime minister, praised Palestinian suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israeli civilian centers in social media and blog posts prior to taking up his post in 2022, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. Al-Ansari is one of the Qatari government’s most public faces, hosting regular press briefings and giving interviews about the Gulf state, including to Israeli media.
From the X archive: In May 2021, when Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched 130 rockets at Israel, Al-Ansari posted his support on X, saying that “Palestine emerges to remind this nation of its glory and the greatness of its message.” Al-Ansari added the hashtag #Tel_Aviv_is_burning to his post. During the ensuing 11 days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza and the West Bank, and rioting by Israeli Arabs in mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel, Al-Ansari posted: “Jerusalem, the interior [of Israel], the West Bank, Gaza … rise with one voice against the occupier. This unity is what terrifies the enemy the most. Oh Allah, unite their word and guide their aim.”
REROUTING
White House withdraws Joel Rayburn for top foreign policy position
The White House has pulled Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs on Monday. A source familiar with the Trump administration’s thinking said Rayburn was withdrawn because “he did not have the votes.” The source said, “The administration will proceed in a different direction.”
Lead-up: Despite claims that Rayburn lacked the votes, the former Syria envoy’s nomination had been advanced to the full Senate by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only committee Republican to come out against Rayburn’s nomination on the GOP side. That vote was made possible by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who crossed party lines to move Rayburn forward after his nomination had languished due to opposition from Paul and all committee Democrats.
COPYCAT EFFECT
Fairfax County schools denounce Muslim student groups promoting hostage taking, violence on social media
The Fairfax County public school system denounced two high schools’ Muslim Student Association chapters on Monday for publishing social media videos that imitate hostage-taking and depict violence as part of a recruitment pitch to attract participants to their programming. The school system, in a statement to Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen, said that if the involved students are found to have violated school conduct codes, they will be “held accountable for their actions.” But they announced no disciplinary measures yet, despite widespread outcry from Jewish community leaders in the Northern Virginia suburb.
School district statement: “FCPS has been made aware of social media videos featuring high school student organization members that are neither school nor division approved,” a spokesperson for the school district told JI. “These videos depict violence, including kidnappings, with victims being hooded and placed in the trunk of a car, among other things. Acting out these types of violent acts is traumatizing for many of us to watch and, given world events, especially traumatizing to our Jewish students, staff, and community.” The statement goes on: “FCPS would never consider these videos to be appropriate or acceptable content. Any students found to be violating our Student Rights and Responsibilities will be held accountable for their actions.”
POSTWAR PLAN
East Gaza v. west Gaza: How partial IDF control could shape the enclave
After an agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas to initiate the first stage of President Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposal in mid-October, the IDF retreated to an “initial withdrawal line,” leaving Israeli forces in control of 58% of the enclave as Israel and mediators push Hamas to release the remaining deceased hostages and comply with the rest of the agreement, including disarmament and relinquishing power. The line divides Gaza in two: an “East,” controlled by the IDF and serving as a buffer zone to Israel, and a “West,” run by Hamas and host to the concentrated Palestinian population. In interviews with Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea, experts painted a picture of two Gazas, explaining that the area Israel holds can be used strategically to root out Hamas and maintain leverage if hostilities resume. But challenges lie ahead in rebuilding the enclave and moving Palestinians back into the eastern region.
Lay of the land: “There are virtually no Palestinians living in the eastern part of Gaza beyond the yellow line. The eastern part does not see the movement and the maneuvers of Hamas. That’s still confined to the western part,” Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Gaza native and resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told JI. “Actual civilians of Gaza are all entirely under Hamas’ control in the west.” Alkhatib said Israel has kept Palestinians from returning to the east over security and operational concerns, but also as leverage.
Condemning Hamas: Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Rick Crawford (R-AR) will introduce a resolution later this week condemning Hamas for its “campaign of executions and intimidation against innocent Palestinians in Gaza” since the implementation of a ceasefire with Israel earlier this month, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs has learned.
JEWISH PEOPLE’S PARLIAMENT
A contentious World Zionist Congress kicks off in Jerusalem with slates expected to duke it out over budgets, positions and resolutions
The 39th World Zionist Congress kicks off in Jerusalem today, with roughly 2,500 people — voting delegates, observers and staff members — in attendance. Over the course of three days, the congress will debate and vote on the budgets, appointments, committee makeups and resolutions that will guide the so-called National Institutions over the next five years, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports.
On the agenda: The congress and its executive body, the Zionist General Council, control a roughly $5 billion five-year budget, which will be voted on during the gathering. They will also select the leadership of the World Zionist Organization, which runs and supports Zionist programming around the world; Keren Keyemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, which controls more than 10% of the land of Israel and wields an accordingly massive budget; Keren HaYesod, a major international fundraising operation; and the Jewish Agency for Israel, which oversees Jewish immigration to Israel, leads international educational programs and supports social initiatives in Israel.
Read the full story here and sign up for eJewishPhilanthropy’s Your Daily Phil newsletter here.
Worthy Reads
Defender of the Faith: The New York Times’ Katie Glueck interviews Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro about the arson attack on the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg during Passover. “For some, it also shook their confidence in the idea that the country was ready for leaders like Mr. Shapiro. About a year before the attack, he told The Times that ‘speaking broadly, absolutely’ America could elect a Jewish president in his lifetime. This month he said his view was unchanged. ‘Being open about my faith has opened me up to be able to have a deeper relationship with the people of Pennsylvania, allowed them to share their stories,’ he said, having ushered a reporter into his family’s sukkah, decked out in colorful paper chains. ‘We’re doing that in this ultimate swing state.’ Americans, he said, ‘respect faith, even if they don’t practice it, and want to have a deep relationship with the people who represent them.’” [NYTimes]
The Platner Playbook: The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait examines the strategies that progressives are using to boost far-left candidates during the midterms, using as an example scandal-plagued Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner. “You’d think it would be possible for Democrats to find a normal person who is not a one-man Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. (Most normal people, in fact, would qualify.) But the left’s continued embrace of Platner has a certain logic. Progressives have a theory of political change for which he remains, despite his massive and ever-expanding political baggage, the ideal prototype. That is, rather than abandon unpopular positions, Democrats should court voters by nominating more candidates who look like, talk like, and ideally even are working-class people. … The solution progressives propose is to avoid addressing these concerns at all by changing the subject to economics, advocating a left-wing populist program, and recruiting candidates who can speak to blue-collar white voters.” [TheAtlantic]
Balance of Power: In The Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Spyer considers the Middle East power struggle following two years of regional conflict that has damaged a number of regional powers but largely left them intact. “As the smoke clears, it becomes clear that the battles of the past two years haven’t led to a fundamental strategic transformation of the region. The balance of power between existing power blocs has been somewhat altered, but no one has faced total defeat, with the notable exception of the Assad regime in Syria. … In the Middle East, the West and its allies remain the strongest gathering in conventional terms. But they have yet to translate that superiority into a decisive victory. One Islamist bloc, that of the Iranians, has been considerably weakened. Another, that of Turkey and Qatar, has grown stronger. The contest is set to continue.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
Speaking to an AIPAC delegation in Taiwan on Monday, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that “Israel’s determination and capacity to defend its territory provides a valuable model for Taiwan”…
The Witkoff Group, led since March by Alex Witkoff, the son of White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, has sold $200 million in condos at its Miami Beach Ocean Terrace project to “friends and family” ahead of the site’s groundbreaking…
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) became the first elected Democrat to call on scandal-plagued Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner to drop out of the race amid controversy over a tattoo on his chest with Nazi origins and other controversies, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Shea reports…
Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who is facing Platner in the Senate primary, made her first public comments on Platner’s tattoo, saying she “vehemently disagree[s] with anybody having an abhorrent tattoo. It’s not neo-Nazi, it’s Nazi. It’s the tattoo. It’s the symbol that SS soldiers, SS officials wore on their caps and their epaulets as they murdered 6 million Jewish people, including half a million children. So, that is abhorrent”…
Meanwhile, Platner praised Ireland’s election last week of Catherine Connolly as president, saying he agreed with her position that Israel is a terrorist state…
Platner’s campaign manager resigned days after starting the job; Kevin Brown had stepped into the role following the departure earlier this month of campaign manager Genevieve McDonald, who had cited Platner’s tattoo of a Nazi symbol and racist and offensive Reddit posts in a social media post about her resignation…
Semafor looks at the deepening ideological divide within the Republican Party over Israel, underscored by the public rift between Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson…
Carlson hosted far-right conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes on the latest episode of his eponymous show, weeks after Fuentes said that Carlson was “too antisemitic even for me”…
Security cameras at the University of Michigan recorded a man attempting to break into the campus’ Jewish Resource Center building earlier this week as he yelled antisemitic obscenities…
Israel lifted the state of emergency in southern Israel that had been in place since Oct. 7, 2023…
The New York Times looks at the relationship between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent months as the White House takes a more authoritative position over regional issues…
Israeli forensics determined that the remains of an Israeli hostage delivered by Hamas on Monday night were additional remains of Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was recovered from Gaza in December 2023; the IDF had recorded drone footage showing Hamas moving the remains from a building to a nearby pit, covering it with dirt and then returning to the site with Red Cross officials…
The Wall Street Journal talks to survivors and families of victims of Palestinian terror attacks about the release of terrorists in exchange for living Israeli hostages in Gaza…
The New York Times reports on Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to be a hub for AI data centers as it courts international tech companies…
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law announced the hirings of Evan Slavitt as general counsel, Joel Taubman as director of student programs and staff attorney, Mollie Galchus as staff litigation attorney, Jake Mayerson as civil rights law fellow and Olivia Fisher as development research and database associate…
Sarah Istel, formerly the deputy general counsel for the Senate Intelligence Committee, is joining Cerberus Ventures as a managing director focusing on technology critical to national security…
Jewish children’s book illustrator Katherine Janus Kahn, who provided the artwork for dozens of Sammy Spider and Ziz books, died at 83…
Pic of the Day
Flanked by her children and brother-in-law, Eli Sharabi, Nira Sharabi on Monday eulogized her husband, Yossi Sharabi, who was killed in Hamas captivity in Gaza. Sharabi’s remains were returned to Israel last week and buried during a ceremony for the Kibbutz Be’eri community.
Birthdays
Actress and investor, she is a part-owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, Jami Gertz turns 60…
Redondo Beach, Calif., resident, Larry Berlin… Rabbi of the Moscow Choral Synagogue, Adolf Shayevich turns 88… Spiritual leader of the Village of New Square (Rockland County, N.Y.) and rebbe of Skverer Hasidism worldwide, Rabbi Dovid Twersky turns 85… Retired actor best known for his role as NYPD Det. Andy Sipowicz in “NYPD Blue,” Dennis Franz turns 81… Former member of the Knesset for the Yisrael Beiteinu party, she also served as minister of aliyah and integration, Sofa Landver turns 76… Anthropology professor at NYU, she won a 1994 MacArthur genius fellowship, Faye Ginsburg turns 73… Rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom in Hamden, Conn., Benjamin Edidin Scolnic, Ph.D. turns 72… Co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates turns 70… Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, he is a 2012 MacArthur genius fellow, David Louis Finkel turns 70… Four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and assistant secretary for health, both throughout the Biden administration, Rachel Leland Levine turns 68… Former member of the Knesset for Likud, he then served as mayor of Beit She’an, Jackie Levy turns 65… Manager of MLB’s San Francisco Giants until the end of the 2025 season, he has been named Manager of the Year three times, Bob Melvin turns 64… Executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass in Lexington, Ky, until 2024, now on Kentucky’s Antisemitism Task Force, Mindy Haas… Italian journalist, he served as editor-in-chief of the daily la Repubblica from 2020 until 2024, Maurizio Molinari turns 61… Owner of a Chick-fil-A franchise in the Houston area, he was a collegiate and an NFL football coach, Tony Levine turns 53… Film and television director, producer, screenwriter and actor, Jacob “Jake” Kasdan turns 51… Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning actor, Joaquin Rafael Phoenix turns 51… Israeli singer in the Mizrahi style, Yaakov (Kobi) Peretz turns 50… Member of the California State Assembly (D-16), Rebecca Bauer-Kahan turns 47… Member of the Knesset for the Likud party from 2015 until 2019, Oren Hazan turns 44… Member of the city council of Scottsdale, Ariz., Adam Kwasman turns 43… President at Apex Healthcare Properties, Elliot Schwab… Associate director of member experience strategy at Oscar Health, Avital “Tali” Warburg Goldstein…
A source familiar with the Trump administration’s thinking said he ‘did not have the votes’ to be confirmed, though his nomination was advanced out of committee last week
KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images
Joel Rayburn, then-deputy assistant secretary for Levant affairs and special envoy for Syria, speaks during a session on reconciliation and reconstruction at the 2019 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Jordan on April 6, 2019.
The White House has pulled Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be assistant secretary of state for near Eastern affairs, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Jewish Insider on Monday.
A source familiar with the Trump administration’s thinking said Rayburn was withdrawn because “he did not have the votes.”
“The administration will proceed in a different direction,” the source said of moving forward with a new nominee.
Despite claims that Rayburn lacked the votes, the former Syria envoy’s nomination had been advanced to the full Senate by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only committee Republican to come out against Rayburn’s nomination on the GOP side.
That vote was made possible by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who crossed party lines to move Rayburn forward after his nomination had languished due to opposition from Paul and all committee Democrats.
Rayburn has been viewed critically by some isolationist figures, both within the administration and on Capitol Hill. Paul, a longtime critic of American engagement abroad, had said he was skeptical of Rayburn’s denials, including under oath at his confirmation hearing in May, that he had knowledge of efforts to mislead President Donald Trump about U.S. troop presence in Syria while serving as Syria envoy in the first Trump administration.
Votes to advance Rayburn’s nomination out of committee were repeatedly canceled over the summer as other committee Republicans and the White House lobbied Rosen and Paul to switch their respective positions. His nomination was first submitted to Congress in early February.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee declined to bring his nomination to a vote and there are no apparent plans to call a vote on the Senate floor
KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images
Joel Rayburn, then-deputy assistant secretary for Levant affairs and special envoy for Syria, speaks during a session on reconciliation and reconstruction at the 2019 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Jordan on April 6, 2019.
This week brought more signs that progress on Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs has ground to a halt, more than a month after his confirmation hearing in mid-May, with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee declining to call up Rayburn’s nomination for a vote on Thursday and no apparent plans to move the process to the Senate floor.
Rayburn served in President Donald Trump’s first administration and is seen as less aligned with the isolationist figures who have taken other senior roles in the second Trump administration.
The nominee was set for a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in early June, but postponed after an unidentified senator requested that the vote be “held over” until the committee’s next business meeting.
It also emerged at that time, and in the ensuing weeks, that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) opposes Rayburn’s confirmation, as do all of the Democrats in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, leaving the vote tied — a failure in committee.
The committee held another business meeting on Wednesday to vote on 10 Trump nominees and could have called up the Rayburn nomination again — but Rayburn, this time, was left off of the schedule, a further indication that he lacks the support to advance.
Senate Republicans could still call a vote on the Senate floor to discharge Rayburn’s nomination from the committee and move him to a full floor vote — which would likely be successful — but Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told Jewish Insider earlier this week that he’s not aware of any discussions about doing so.
Barrasso referred questions to Sen Jim Risch (R-ID), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who did not respond to a request for comment.
With just one more week in session remaining until the July Fourth recess and all eyes on the budget reconciliation bill that Republicans hope to pass before the holiday, it appears unlikely that such a vote will occur in the immediate term.
Rayburn’s nomination was first submitted to Congress in early February.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on whether the administration is considering withdrawing Rayburn’s nomination.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen told JI she doesn’t know of any Democrats planning to support him out of committee, leaving his nomination deadlocked
KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images
Joel Rayburn, then-deputy assistant secretary for Levant affairs and special envoy for Syria, speaks during a session on reconciliation and reconstruction at the 2019 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Jordan on April 6, 2019.
Joel Rayburn, the Trump administration’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, faces a difficult path to confirmation, with no Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee expected to support him, leaving the vote to move him to full Senate consideration deadlocked.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Jewish Insider on Tuesday that she’s not aware of any committee Democrats planning to vote to move Rayburn’s nomination out of committee, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told JI last week that he opposes Rayburn.
A spokesperson for Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) confirmed he’s opposing Rayburn and a source familiar with the matter said the same of Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). Asked to confirm that they were planning to oppose Rayburn, the other Democratic members of the Foreign Relations Committee did not respond to requests for comment.
If all of them oppose Rayburn’s nomination, that leaves the committee vote on Rayburn’s nomination tied, preventing it from moving forward to the full Senate.
A spokesperson for Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the committee’s chairman, did not comment.
Senate Republicans could still call a full Senate vote to discharge Rayburn’s nomination from the committee, but it’s unclear if they will be eager to spend floor time on that process as they work to finalize a budget reconciliation package ahead of the July 4 recess.
Asked about the possibility of a floor vote to discharge Rayburn, Shaheen responded that it “will be very difficult” to move Rayburn’s nomination forward at this point.
If Rayburn’s nomination fails, it would be a blow to national security-focused conservatives, with whom Rayburn is aligned, and could reopen another key post to someone affiliated with the isolationist wing of the Republican Party.
Rayburn, the nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, faces opposition from Sen. Rand Paul
KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images
Joel Rayburn, then-deputy assistant secretary for Levant affairs and special envoy for Syria, speaks during a session on reconciliation and reconstruction at the 2019 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Jordan on April 6, 2019.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee delayed an anticipated vote on Thursday on Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs as he faces opposition from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), which could imperil his nomination.
The news is another setback for Middle East hawks who saw Rayburn, who held a series of national security positions in the first Trump administration, as more aligned with their worldview, as compared to the isolationists populating many senior roles throughout the administration.
Thursday’s delay came because an unidentified member exercised a prerogative to delay the vote on Rayburn until the committee’s next business meeting, which would still allow the committee to vote on him in the near future. But Rayburn may face bigger problems: If no Democrats support Rayburn, the vote on his nomination would be tied, meaning it cannot advance out of committee.
It’s not clear whether any Democrats will support him. At that point, Rayburn’s nomination could still be advanced through a full Senate floor vote, assuming a sufficient number of other Republicans support the nominee.
Paul told Jewish Insider that he was primarily concerned that Rayburn was involved in a deliberate effort in the Trump administration to obscure the U.S. troop presence in Syria from Trump and disobey orders to withdraw U.S. forces.
“My concern is that James Jeffrey directly disobeyed direction from President Trump. Said he was hiding the numbers of troop levels over there, and Rayburn worked for him at the time, and still remains close to him,” Paul said, referring to the then-U.S. envoy to the global counter-ISIS coalition. “I don’t know how that could have happened without him knowing about it, and I think we need people at the State Department who will follow the direction of the president.”
Paul said he had not been the senator who requested a delay in the committee vote on Rayburn.
Plus, a sit-down with the first Orthodox Jewish chief federal judge
Win McNamee/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald J. Trump tours the synagogue at the Abrahamic Family House during a cultural visit on May 16, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Good Friday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we interview Judge Matthew Solomson, the first Orthodox Jew to be named chief judge of a U.S. federal court, and report from Operation Benjamin’s ceremonies this week honoring Jewish soldiers killed in action in Italy during WWII. We also cover yesterday’s confirmation hearing for Joel Rayburn, the Trump administration’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, and report on Jason Greenblatt and Rahm Emanuel’s debate last night over Trump administration policies. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Yuval Raphael, Eileen Filler-Corn and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent Jewish Insider and eJewishPhilanthropy stories, including: Jews in Canada and Australia warily eye the future after liberal party electoral victories; Trump’s Gulf tour underscores Israel’s diplomatic disadvantage; and Leo Terrell: DOJ plans to use litigation to ‘eliminate antisemitism. Print the latest edition here.
What We’re Watching
- President Donald Trump wraps up his three-country trip to the Middle East today in the United Arab Emirates. Earlier today, the president visited the Abrahamic Family House. More below.
- Former Israeli-American hostage Keith Siegel is in New York City today, where he is hosting a pancake pop-up at 12 Chairs Cafe’s Soho location. All proceeds from the pop-up will go to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
- The two-day FII PRIORITY Europe 2025 begins today in Tirana, Albania. Speakers include French President Emmanuel Macron, Richard Attias and Goldman Sachs’ Jared Cohen.
- Iran’s deputy foreign minister is in Istanbul today for meetings with senior diplomats from France, the U.K. and Germany.
- The Eurovision finals are taking place tomorrow in Basel, Switzerland. Israeli singer Yuval Raphael advanced out of Thursday’s semifinals and will perform her “New Day Will Rise” on Saturday night.
- On Sunday, the Center for Jewish History is hosting “The End of an Era? Jews and Elite Universities.” The symposium will feature speakers including Rabbi David Wolpe, Jamie Kirchick, Eli Lake, Steven Pinker, Bill Ackman and Deborah Lipstadt.
- Also Sunday, the National Council of Jewish Women’s two-day Washington Institute kicks off in the nation’s capital.
- In New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council-NY is hosting its annual Israel Parade on Sunday.
- And in Paris, ELNET’s International Policy Conference begins Sunday.
- The World Jewish Congress kicks off in Jerusalem on Sunday evening.
- Pope Leo XIV will be inaugurated on Sunday at the Vatican. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli President Isaac Herzog will be among the dignitaries and officials traveling to Italy for the inauguration.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JOSH KRAUSHAAR
In our hyperpartisan times, it’s often hard to appreciate how often the Trump administration — on issues ranging from health care to abortion to trade — is taking liberal-to-left positions, yet can still rely on support from nearly all of the GOP base, Jewish Insider Editor-in-Chief Josh Kraushaar writes.
President Donald Trump can call for implementing price controlson pharmaceutical companies, without generating even a peep of opposition from rank-and-file conservatives. The White House can defend federal regulations allowing abortion pills to be available online and by mail without facing much backlash from pro-lifers. It can slap punitive tariffs on allies and rivals alike, raising the risk of economic chaos, only backing down after mayhem in the markets, and not because of public pushback from lawmakers.
But perhaps the most consequential divergence of the Trump administration from conventional conservative views is on foreign policy, most recently its seemingly growing disconnect from Israel on issues ranging from Iran nuclear negotiations to the war against the Houthis in Yemen and the state of the war in Gaza. Trump’s views are apparently at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on all those issues, to the point where the president didn’t even schedule a stop in Israel this week on his Middle East trip.
We write a lot about the horseshoe theory, which has the far left and far right coming together to mainline views once considered beyond the political pale. On Middle East policy, it’s increasingly looking like there’s a different type of horseshoe, tying together Obama-era foreign policy advisors looking to attack the foreign policy establishment of their time as a “blob” along with isolationist-minded Trump advisors aiming to discredit mainstream conservative policymakers as part of an “interventionalist” cadre.
Just look at the stunning quotes from Obama and Biden-era foreign policy officials responsible for what some saw as unpopular national security decisions now praising the new Trump playbook in the Middle East.
Obama Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told Axios, reprising his Blob dig for Trump critics: “One thing you will say is he’s not tied to this constant fear of some bad faith right-wing attacks or stupid Blob-type, ‘we don’t do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.’ No! Sometimes you just have to try something different.”
Rob Malley, Biden’s Iran envoy whose security clearance was suspended over alleged misconduct, also backhandedly praised Trump’s new approach in the Middle East. “It’s hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos,” Malley told Axios.
The Axios story follows our own reporting last month, quoting numerous Obama and Biden-era officials finding common ground with Trump on trying to reach a diplomatic agreement with Iran, even if it requires major concessions. Phil Gordon, Vice President Kamala Harris’ national security advisor, told JI the Trump negotiating team is “gonna have to accept some of the same imperfections that the Obama team did.”
The big potential question to come is if Trump’s negotiators strike a nuclear deal with Iran that looks awfully similar to Obama’s 2015 deal, short of a dismantlement of the Islamic regime’s nuclear program, will Republicans fall in line or stand their ground on an issue many have spoken out against since the original JCPOA? Only time will tell what transpires, but given the trajectory of our politics, principles tend to bow to power.
legal pioneer
Matthew Solomson blazes trail as first Orthodox Jewish chief judge
When Judge Matthew Solomson’s great-grandfather came to the United States from Russia in the early 1900s, seeking a haven from the state-sanctioned antisemitism that plagued Europe, he was so scarred by the way his government had treated Jews that he would cross the street whenever he saw a police officer. Now, just three generations later, Solomson, 51, is the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, making him the first Orthodox Jew to be named chief judge of any federal court in the United States. As he sits in his chambers, with a clear view of the White House and a piece of art depicting the Western Wall hanging behind his desk, he talked to Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch about his family’s quintessentially American story.
American dream: “To go from that kind of attitude about a government, any government, to serving at a high level within the government in the space of 100 years, to go from a family of immigrants to having been appointed by the president the United States, is a tremendous honor, and I think, a tremendous testament to our government and the incredible nature of the American society,” Solomson saidin an interview this week.
NOMINEE NEWS
Nominee for top Middle East post says admin insists on Iranian nuclear dismantlement
Joel Rayburn, the Trump administration’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, said at his confirmation hearing on Thursday that Iran should not be allowed to continue to enrich uranium in any capacity, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Hearing highlights: Rayburn said that Iran “does not need and should not have” nuclear enrichment capabilities. He also said that Iran’s terror proxy networks and ballistic missile capabilities should be addressed, but did not make clear whether those elements should be included in a nuclear deal. Raburn also suggested that he believes Saudi-Israeli normalization is only a matter of time. And he named Syrian-Israeli normalization as one of the conditions the administration expects from the new Syrian government as a condition of removing all sanctions on the country.
ARMS ARGUMENT
Sen. Murphy to force votes on halting weapons sales to Qatar and UAE
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said on Thursday that he’ll attempt to force a vote on his resolutions halting several sets of arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in response to the Qataris offering President Donald Trump a $400 million Boeing jet to add to the Air Force One fleet and the Emiratis investing $2 billion in his family’s cryptocurrency coin. The Connecticut senator’s joint resolutions of disapproval target $1.9 billion in arms sales to Qatar and $1.6 billion in weapons sales to the UAE, all five of which were co-sponsored by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs and Marc Rod report.
Details: The $1.9 billion sale to Qatar includes eight MQ-9B armed drones and related equipment, including 200 JDAM tail kits, 300 500-pound bombs and 110 Hellfire II missiles. The three Emirati sales include six CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters and relevant equipment, valued at $1.32 billion; F-16 aircraft components, accessories and defense services, a $130 million value; and spare or repair parts for the UAE’s AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook aircraft, a $150 million value.
Murphy’s statement: “This isn’t a gift out of the goodness of their hearts — it’s an illegal bribe that the president of the United States is champing at the bit to accept. That’s unconstitutional and not how we conduct foreign policy. Unless Qatar rescinds their offer of a ‘palace in the sky’ or Trump turns it down, I will move to block this arms sale,” Murphy said in a statement on the Qatari resolution.
Also on the Hill: Warning that “the entire population of the Gaza Strip … is facing acute levels of hunger,” a group of 30 Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), introduced a resolution on Thursday condemning Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid moving into Gaza and calling on the Trump administration to work to end it, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
exclusive
Eileen Filler-Corn endorses James Walkinshaw in Northern Virginia House race
Eileen Filler-Corn, the first woman and Jewish speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, is backing Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw in his bid to succeed outgoing Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) in Northern Virginia, she said in an announcement shared exclusively with Jewish Insider’sMatthew Kassel on Thursday.
What she said: “From my early days as delegate to my time as speaker of the Virginia House, James was a critical legislative partner in the historic progress we delivered for Fairfax County families,” Filler-Corn said of Walkinshaw, a former longtime chief of staff to Connolly. “He’s steady, thoughtful and deeply experienced at every level of government — and that’s the kind of leadership we need to take on Trump’s dangerous agenda and deliver real results.” The endorsement puts to rest ongoing speculation over Filler-Corn’s own plans to run for the seat that is being vacated by Connolly — a veteran lawmaker who said in late April he would not seek reelection because of the return of his esophageal cancer.
PROTECTOR OR PROVOKER?
Jason Greenblatt, Rahm Emanuel face off over Trump’s record on antisemitism, Israel
Is President Donald Trump good for the Jews? The question has been asked since his first term, when he made several high-profile moves that were widely praised in the Jewish community — moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and bringing together the historic Abraham Accords, to name a few. Now in his second term, with Trump squaring off with universities and revoking the visas of some foreign students in the name of combating antisemitism, Jews continue to debate the question. Two prominent Jewish voices put forward their arguments on Thursday night — Jason Greenblatt, who served as Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East during the first administration and, prior to that, had worked for him for 20 years, and Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. The charged debate, held at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, was moderated by SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens, Jewish Insider’s Haley Cohen reports.
Campus questions: Trump’s crackdown on universities “is using antisemitism to deal with political retribution,” Emanuel said. “Everytime we have been pitted against other people, Jews have come on the negative side of that,” he warned. “The president isn’t responsible for antisemitism,” Emanuel continued. “But he is responsible for the moral tone in that office to condemn it when he sees it and he’s always walked away from that, and he’s given a permission slip publicly for that antisemitism.” Emanuel called it “revealing” that in a three-page letter the Trump administration sent to Harvard University earlier this month, stating that federal agencies will no longer provide the institution with grant funding, the word antisemitism “was never mentioned.” Greenblatt fired back, calling it “ironic” that “Harvard is fighting to stop the Jews from protecting their civil rights and Trump is fighting for their civil rights.” Greenblatt said, “Trump is being very aggressive” in his battle with higher education. “But I think appropriately … Trump said there is a serious problem and [he is] going to fight it with a heavy hand.”
SAVING PRIVATE RILEY
Decades after his death, a Jewish WWII hero is honored in Italy, with family of comrade present
Privates First Class Del Riley and Frank Kurzinger were fast friends. They met in 1943, training for the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale, Colo. In 1945, they took part in a mission to seize Monte Belvedere, in northern Italy, from the Germans. Riley hit a tripwire and was critically wounded on the way up the mountain. Kurzinger, a combat medic, rushed to Riley’s aid. He stepped on a land mine and was immediately killed. He was 22 years old. Del Riley died seven years ago, but on his 100th birthday this week, 15 of his descendants were reunited with Frank Kurzinger’s relatives in Italy, following the efforts of Operation Benjamin, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports from Italy.
Life mission: “Frank Kurzinger laid down his life for my father,” Del’s son, Marc Riley, said on Wednesday. “Since Feb. 20, 1945, my father spent his life trying to find the Kurzinger family to tell them … the kind of man Frank Kurzinger was. My father spent his life looking for Frank.” Operation Benjamin honored Kurzinger at a ceremony on Wednesday in the Florence American Cemetery, surrounded by sycamore and cypress trees on a Tuscan hillside.
Worthy Reads
Plane Wrong: The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire and Russell Berman look at how Republicans are responding — or not addressing — President Donald Trump’s intentions to accept a luxury plane from Qatar. “But in a rare moment of defiance, some of the loudest cries of protest about the possible gift are coming from some of Trump’s staunchest allies. ‘I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right,”’ Ben Shapiro, a Daily Wire co-founder, said on his podcast. ‘President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.’ Even in Washington, a capital now numbed to scandals that were once unthinkable, the idea of accepting the jet is jaw-dropping. Trump’s second administration is yet again displaying a disregard for norms and for traditional legal and political guardrails around elected office — this time at a truly gargantuan scale. Trump’s team has said it believes that the gift would be legal because it would be donated to the Department of Defense (and then to the presidential library). But federal law prohibits government workers from accepting a gift larger than $20 at any one time from any person. Retired General Stanley McChrystal, who once commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told us that he couldn’t ‘accept a lunch at the Capital Grille.’” [TheAtlantic]
Acceptance Rates: In The Wall Street Journal, Alison Leigh Cowan proposes that universities ask questions of their applicants similar to the questions that green card applicants are required to answer on issues regarding violence and behavior. “Foreigners seeking green cards or nonresident visas must answer dozens of yes-or-no questions from the U.S. government. False statements can be grounds for deportation. They are also asked if they have any affiliation to communist or other totalitarian parties, and, in some instances, whether they intend to give financial or other support to terrorists or engage in activity intended to oppose, control or overthrow the U.S. government. American-born university applicants shouldn’t get a free pass. Plenty of them have been on the front lines of the rankest campus spectacles. This extra layer of diligence won’t solve the separate problem posed by tenured faculty who radicalize students once they arrive. But it’s a good place to start: University presidents have more sway over their admissions offices than they do over entrenched faculty members.” [WSJ]
Word on the Street
President Donald Trump said on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates that American negotiators are “getting close to maybe doing a deal” with Iran over its nuclear program…
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke about the UAE-U.S. relationship, the Israel-Hamas war and nuclear talks with Iran; regarding Gaza, he called for “an authority that’s not Hamas that controls Gaza”…
During the president’s trip to the UAE, the countries inked an agreement to boost Abu Dhabi’s chip-making capabilities, the first such AI-related deal the U.S. has made since Trump entered office; the deal includes the creation of a 10-mile AI campus in Abu Dhabi supplied by U.S.-made chips…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Thursday with his Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, in Turkey as the U.S. moves toward removing sanctions on Damascus following a directive from Trump…
Trump reportedly shared polling with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) that showed lagging numbers ahead of her decision not to move forward with a Senate bid challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA)…
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) introduced the Persian Gulf Act, to prohibit the administration from changing the name of the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Gulf, as some in the Trump administration have reportedly considered…
A bipartisan group of 13 House members led by Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI) introduced a resolution expressing support for continued and expanded U.S. defense cooperation, particularly in advanced research areas…
A group of nine Democratic legislators, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Summer Lee (D-PA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and Andre Carson (D-IN) introduced a resolution accusing Israel of genocide and calling for the U.S. to “ensure the United States ends its complicity in Israel’s ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people”…
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations voted unanimously to admit the Iranian American Jewish Federation, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross reports…
NYU is denying a diploma to a student speaker who railed against American “complicity in this genocide” in Gaza during a commencement ceremony at NYU’s Gallatin School…
Writer Salman Rushdie withdrew as the commencement speaker for Claremont McKenna College ahead of this weekend’s ceremonies…
Former Harvard Divinity School student Shabbos Kestenbaum settled his ongoing lawsuit against Harvard; the settlement comes days before a deadline for Kestenbaum to produce a range of documents that included his communications with President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and messages from WhatsApp groups…
The Justice Department told Harvard it is looking into whether the school is complying with a Supreme Court ruling ending affirmative action in college admissions processes…
A Pittsburgh woman pleaded guilty for her role in the vandalism of two Jewish institutions in the Pennsylvania city; Talya Lubit, who is Jewish, was ordered to pay nearly $11,000 in restitution to Chabad of Squirrel Hill, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh and will face a parole board’s recommendation at her June sentencing…
Officials in southern Nevada are investigating a string of threatening letters sent to Jewish organizations in the Las Vegas area…
The BBC is investigating whether a frequent guest on BBC Arabic who has been billed as both a “journalist” and “foreign policy analyst” served as editor-in-chief of the Hamas-owned Al-Aqsa TV until last September…
Vanity Fair profiles Axios reporter Barak Ravid, whose coverage since moving from Israel to Washington in mid-2023 has focused on the 2024 presidential election, U.S.-Israel relations and the Israel-Hamas war…
Israel carried out overnight strikes across the Gaza Strip, targeting what the IDF said was Hamas infrastructure, amid a broader escalation targeting the terror group in the enclave…
Trump addressed food shortages in Gaza on Friday, saying that “a lot of people are starving” but the U.S. is “going to get that taken care of”…
The New York Times reports on Hamas’ celebrations over the killing earlier this week of a pregnant Israeli woman in the West Bank…
Members of the Israeli branch of the Masorti/Conservative movement’s Mercaz Olami paid to publish and distribute posters in Haredi neighborhoods in Israel that equated Zionism with idolatry and heresy as part of an influence campaign aimed at driving a wedge between the Israeli Haredi public and the Haredi officials involved in the World Zionist Organization, eJewishPhilanthropy‘s Nira Dayanim reports…
Several dozen people participated in an annual pilgrimage to the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, amid security concerns; two years ago, five people were killed in a terror attack targeting pilgrims, who previously numbered in the thousands…
Pic of the Day
President Donald Trump toured the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue during his visit to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, this morning, the first American presidential visit to the interfaith institution since its inauguration in February 2023, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen reports.
Birthdays
Managing partner at Accretive LLC, a private equity firm, he is also executive chairman of Fubo TV, Edgar Bronfman Jr. turns 70…
FRIDAY: Scholar, author and rabbi, he is the founding president of CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Irving “Yitz” Greenberg turns 92… Retired judge of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, she has served as president and chair of The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Ellen Moses Heller turns 84… Senior official in the Carter, Bush 41, Clinton and Obama administrations Bernard W. Aronson turns 79… Member of the New York State Assembly for 52 years (longest tenure ever), his term ended in 2022, Richard N. Gottfried turns 78… Chairman of NBC News and MSNBC from 2015 until 2020, Andrew Lack turns 78… Member of the House of Representatives since 2013 (D-FL), she was previously the mayor of West Palm Beach, Lois Frankel turns 77… Harvard history professor, a member of the Rothschild banking family of England, Emma Georgina Rothschild turns 77… Proto-punk singer, songwriter and guitarist, Jonathan Richman turns 74… Radio voice of the Texas Rangers baseball organization since 1979, Eric Nadel turns 74… Rochester, N.Y., resident and advisor to NYC-based Ezras Nashim volunteer ambulance service, Michael E. Pollock… Real estate developer and mechutan of President Trump, his nomination to be U.S. ambassador to France is pending in the Senate, Charles Kushner turns 71… Film and stage actress, noted for “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “Terms of Endearment,” Debra Winger turns 70… President of Tribe Media and editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal, David Suissa… Real estate mogul and collector of modern and contemporary art, Aby J. Rosen turns 65… Executive assistant at Los Angeles-based FaceCake Marketing Technologies, Esther Bushey… U.S. ambassador to the European Union in the Obama administration, he had a bar mitzvah-like ceremony in Venice in 2017, Anthony Luzzatto Gardner turns 62… Social entrepreneur and co-founder of nonprofit Jumpstart, Jonathan Shawn Landres turns 53… Actress, television personality and author, Victoria Davey (Tori) Spelling turns 52… Host of programs on the Travel Channel and the History Channel, Adam Richman turns 51… VP and associate general counsel at CNN, Drew Shenkman… Managing director at FTI Consulting, Jeff Bechdel… Chef and food blogger, Jamie Neistat Lavarnway… Composer, conductor and music producer known for his film and television scores, Daniel Alexander Slatkin turns 31…
SATURDAY: President of the Philadelphia-based Honickman Foundation, Lynne Korman Honickman turns 89… Annapolis, Md., attorney, Robert M. Pollock… News anchor for 45 years at WPVI-TV (ABC Channel 6) in Philadelphia until he retired in 2022, known professionally as Jim Gardner, James Goldman turns 77… Canadian philanthropist and the first woman to serve as lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Myra Ava Freeman turns 76… Corporate and securities attorney at NYC’s Eilenberg & Krause, he serves as counsel for Israeli technology companies doing business in the U.S., Sheldon Krause turns 70… Comedian, puppeteer and actor, Marc Weiner turns 70… Founder and president of ENS Resources, a D.C.-based consulting and lobbying firm focused on natural resources and sustainable energy, Eric Sapirstein turns 69… Host of “Marketplace Morning Report” on public radio, David Brancaccio turns 65… Author of the 2005 book Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish and a 2017 book about Jewish holidays, she is an honorary president of NYC’s Central Synagogue, Abigail Pogrebin… and her identical twin sister, Robin Pogrebin, reporter on the culture desk for The New York Times, both turn 60… Former general manager for corporate strategy at Microsoft, she was also an EVP at Hillel, Kinney Zalesne turns 59… CPA and founder of the Baltimore Hunger Project, it provides food packs for the weekend that are discretely slipped into over 2,200 poverty-stricken public-school children’s backpacks each Friday, Lynne Berkowitz Kahn… Israeli author and playwright, Sarah Blau turns 52… Reporter for The New York Times covering politics, campaigns and elections, Reid J. Epstein… Former member of Knesset, when elected in 2013 she became the youngest female Knesset member in Israel’s history, Stav Shaffir turns 40… Executive director of Informing Democracy and digital strategy adviser to Democratic organizations and candidates, Jenna Ruth Lowenstein… Digital and social media strategist at AARP, Sarah Sonies… Senior writer at Microsoft’s Future of Work group, Rebecca Rose Nelson Kay… Israeli judoka, he was the 2019 World Champion and won a team bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics, Sagi Aharon Muki turns 33… Director of congregational engagement at Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation in St. Paul, Minn., Heather Renetzky… Senior media relations manager at Rystad Energy, Katherine (Katie) Keenan…
SUNDAY: Leader and rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger since 1996, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter turns 86… Chairman and co-founder of K2 Intelligence and Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Jules B. Kroll turns 84… Best-selling author of nine spy thriller novels, Andrew Gary Kaplan turns 84… Ruth Madoff turns 84… Retired New York Times columnist and editorial writer, he was the NYT’s Jerusalem correspondent for four years in the early 1990s, Clyde Haberman turns 80… President of Everest Management and trustee of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Gary Kopff turns 80… Los Angeles-based attorney and board member of American Friends of Nishmat, Linda Goldenberg Mayman… Longtime Washington correspondent for Newsweek, now writing for SpyTalk, Jonathan Broder turns 77… Longest-serving member of the Maryland House of Delegates, starting in 1983, Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg turns 75… Chair of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, a former IDF major general and leading activist for the disability community, Doron Almog turns 74… Senior advisor at Moelis & Company, a former IDF major general, then CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Shlomo Yanai turns 73… Director of nutrition and hospitality at Philadelphia’s Temple University Hospital, Nancy Baumann… Attorney in Atlanta, he was the director of congregational engagement at the Union for Reform Judaism for nine years, Alan Kitey… Film producer, he is the CEO of Miramax since one year ago, Jonathan Glickman turns 56… Venture capitalist and author of a book on business principles derived from the Book of Genesis, Michael A. Eisenberg turns 54… CEO at Waze from 2013 to 2021, Noam Bardin… VP for communications strategy at Strategic Marketing Innovations (SMI), Bryan Bender turns 53… Head of development until earlier this year at NYC charter school system, Uncommon Schools, Sarah Danzig… Author of Substack-based newsletter and blog, “Slow Boring,” he was a co-founder of Vox, Matthew Yglesias turns 44… Founder of London-based Tech With Intention, Eliza Krigman… Senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on the White House’s National Security Council, Eric Trager… Founder of Satori Global Media, Joshua Lederman… Former acting under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, then a member of the National Archives Public Interest Declassification Board, Ezra Asa Cohen turns 39… Tech entrepreneur in the AI and gaming space, Dan Garon… Co-founder of Rebel (formerly known as Rebelmail) then acquired by Salesforce, Joe Teplow… Managing associate in the D.C. office of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Lauren DePinto Bomberger… Executive producer of the Net Zero Life Podcast, Netanel (Tani) Levitt… Director of communications at Anduril Industries, Sofia Rose Gross Haft… Five-time member of the U.S. Women’s National Gymnastics Team, now a business manager in the office of the CIO at Citadel, Samantha “Sami” Shapiro turns 32… Chief development officer at TAMID Group, Rachel Philipson Marsh…